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I'm an old bloke and grew up with film. In 1969 at age 20 I bought my first SLR. It was a Minolta SRT 101. That camera is now long gone and after a lot of cameras I now shoot Sony, but a few days ago I decided to go looking for another SRT 101 for nostalgia's sake. I bought one from Japan and it will be here (Australia) in a few days. And now this video has popped up in my feed, the first time I've seen Jesse's channel. And lo and behold, the girl with the camera at about the 17 minute mark is holding an old film camera. Even with only a few hints I recognise it as a Minolta SRT 101. The pic of her lying down in the sand shows the characteristic flare behind her chin of those old Minolta MC lenses. Suddenly I feel at home.

I want to say THANK YOU for this video! I'm new to the world of film-making, and am currently working on a new 10-15 minute video. One of those things I keep thinking is 5, "if I get a camera, instead of my phone, I'll film more!". But will I at this stage? Probably won't, and I don't need to spend the money yet. For where I'm at, and what I'm currently working with, my phone does the trick. But I think it's like with you were saying with a steady-cam or music, it's use or non-use is a creative and artistic choice and there is no "one size fits all" solution when it comes to filmmaking.

I absolutely love the sentiment that film will make you a better photographer. With the right mindset of course! Wonderful video Jesse!

Were you part of a Boyband in the 90s?

I want hug you. We have this same argument going on in the audio world.... tape vs digital... vinyl vs digital..... So many people listen to vinyl that was MASTERED digitally saying that it sounds better on the vinyl pressing that they are listening to on their shitty turntable...... ugh.... Why did vinyl get so popular recently ? Fucking Instagram....

You inspired me bro I still shooting films today in 2024 and I love it

Brilliant, thank you!❤

It is special for the photographer, otherwise they wouldn’t do it . Digital or film both are good, it’s up to the individual what they like to use.

the two shots look very different in terms of light - what happened? no drop shadow on the digital.

I feel let down...

It is like manual car versus auto car. It is not the car, it is the experience, the effort and the learning. Maybe not perfect, but the experience is unparalleled. Just my opinion.

beautiful video

The mantra that says « film automatically make a picture better » is just a consequence of a louder stupid crowd on social media. Although in this example, the digital shot is crappy compared to the film one in terms of colors, accuracy, piqué, shadows, tone, it’s a specific thing that happen with very old digital camera. Nowadays, even an old Sony A7 III is waaaaaaaay better than any film. But you don’t get the same vibe. The colors are never quite the same. Perfection is boring. You don’t get negatives/positives you can scan 40 years later, you don’t necessarily print digital because you’ve got 560 photos instead of 36. Film is not more of an educational medium as digital, it’s just a tool that helps you get what you want for photography. We are too focused on the perfection for art nowadays, that we forget it’s the journey that is interesting, not necessarily the end.

What I love is that I can kinda tell if an image is shot on film or digital. To me, it's more about the unpredictability of film - I'd never take anything purposefully professional on film because its just for fun for me and unplanned and natural usually. Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit. Digital is usually more planned, and more with the intent that I will edit this later as I please.

I'm afraid of the debate: analog or digital whether in photography or music will never end. But I would like to stimulate a new debate: SLR or mirrorless digital cameras.I don't like looking at the world through a monitor.

I’m ok with you letting me down later. Just not now.

Great points

sliver splinter interesting

Thank you for this and thank you CZcams for this. I've been so excited about film making and I've been learning so much for this next project (the biggest one I've done) but that research has brought me down the soul-sucking "filmmaking CZcams" videos. It made me feel so worried about doing it wrong or not being good enough -- especially all of those "short film mistakes" and "cliches that will ruin your film" and "best 2k setups for XYZ camera" videos. Seeing this brought me back to the soul -- the art -- that I wanted to make in the first place. Got me excited to be working on a project again. It won't be perfect, but it'll be a hell of a lot more fun and creative. :)

LOVE my Mamiya. I have had over 30 35mm and medium format cameras and this is the only one I have kept

Your point about the vision of the photographer making the difference is true. I also think that for those of us who develop our own film and the even fewer of us who make our own prints, film is much more rewarding and tricky because of how little editing is done to the image after its captured. It takes more thought when shooting the photo and because its so tricky to get right, a really really good darkroom print just feels so much better because of how involved you were at every step.

your funny 🥰

I think I'm a minimalist when it comes to cameras: mechanical, a few knobs, little else. I don't need 4000 settings that really just deal with the inadequacies of a digital camera. Well, not all, but most of them. Yeah, looking at you Sony.

I started photography -on film obviously - in 1967. Yes, you read right. Film has an aesthetic that is still unmatched by digital. And while this is entirely personal opinion, I feel we have gone past to a too high definition, over sharp etc look that is starting to look artificial. For me it's a bit like walking into a TV shop and seeing all these 4000 6000 8000 K TVs that just look ridiculous.

How do you not have 100k followers?

Loved the trip down memory lane.

The film shot is better because your highlights aren't blown all over the place that it is in the digital and you can't recover that

Having a high end sports car does not make you a NASCAR winner. You have to know how to use it. But if you do know how to use it, film can give you winning image with a superior edge than digital.

“Time is money “ that’s why I watch this video on 2x speed.

This video is straight fire!!! Style over substance is such a large issue these days, this reminds me to always focus on the story I want to tell, rather than the aesthetic or allure of the visuals! Thank you for this!

Only halfway thru the video but I gotta say, your humor is 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Thanks for making me laugh today 😂😂

Film is about the process I'd say.

Funny how film shooters these days only shoot colour and send it to a lab for development. Film is much, MUCH MORE then that. Film is developing it yourself (the creative process only works properly for B&W, I know. For colour, you're just removing fidelity when you deviate from the standard process). It's expanding or contracting the tonality curve. It's choosing a film for it's spectral sensitivity and adjusting it even more through colour filters. It's about knowing what you want with such certainty that you plan for the result with the choice of every component of the process: the film, the chemistry, the agitation technique, and so on. Colour film shooters are not film shooters. They are just hipsters wasting money on really expensive Instagram filters and have no opinion on what film shooting is about. And i know he ended up saying shooting film is worth for a host of other reasons, but please... Do yourself a favour and shoot B&W and develop it yourself. Then you'll understand what shooting film is really about.

It's good that you are trying to break the mold the "youtuber filmmakers" estabilished, and it's nice to raise awareness about good composition and everything, but how about you don't fall into the same trap like everyone else: filming yourself in a room with your face dead center in the frame. I hate this style. It's like a TV news presenter trying to be your friend, but it doesn't really work that way, and 99% of the full frontal facial content can be replaced with other visual content about the things you are actually talking about.

Sigh...ONCE AGAIN...We have an "influencer" missing the point about shooting film in the first place. Allow me to retort: 1. "The medium IS the message." Choosing the medium whether its digital or film has to be in sync with the subject and subtext youre are trying to achieve. 2.) This is still part of the now obsolete "film v. digital" debate. First of all when you scan physical negatives they become digital images but the digital file still retains the master negative's film structure. 3.) This is the part that's ALWAYS overlooked and while digital is technically superior, digital is egregiously inferior in the archiving department. All digital storage media will decay, corrupt, or become obsolete within 100 years. Meanwhile film, which is already over 100 years old and passed multiple stress test since the 19th century, you will have physical copies of your negatives will last if stored properly and they will also be STILL be equivalent to 4K (35mm) and 8K (Medium Format) assuming youre not using the same film scanner you used back in 2008. Ill end this with a quote from Steven Spielberg, "digital photography is SCIENCE. Film photography is a CHEMICAL MIRACLE."

As a maximalist that needs every inch of my space filled with functional stuff and has an allergy to white space, I like hearing the perspective of why people get into minimalism.

should note with the darkroom scenes that the red safety light is only good for black and white work, please dont use a safety light for colour related prints and development

Hello - good video and discussion! I went to art school and studied photography and spent many friggen hours in the dark room working on images and after two years I said never again; it takes a lot of time to develop the film and then print the image just the way you want it. Digital is so much better in regards to time. One final comment on this is that the film image did get digitized in the end so does that make it a digital image too?

Very nice video, totally agree. ❤

Just subscribed. 😊 thank you for the beautiful tips in filmmaking.. I'm on a learning process. 😊

yeah the film looks way better

Such an interesting topic. What I feel digital has done now, is allow more licence with film as how we regard the format has changed. The actual physical product is now more a part of the experience than it was when film was standard, so whether it's better or not is almost irrelevant - it now has its own academic environment

Tremendo vídeo. Gracias.

You can take picture of a platinum coated turd with a turbocharger on it like a ford... after the picture is taken... it's still a turd! Gives of a very vintage look yes... but it's still a picture of a turd. Nothing magical. You got to bring visual elements around and make it special. Film though is NOT an expensive Instagram filter, Film was before Instagram and they took from the expensive things we have and made it their own so LOL

Try an actual drum scan and your jaw might drop :-)

I found this video during my frustration of modern minimalism in UI design, and desperately looking for other ways or inspiration for designing digital interfaces. The b-roll footage is healing my soul.

"Film doesn't make an image special" Sure no wonder. My film camera does have a reliable auto exposure mode. Too bad no Ansel Adams/Saul Leiter/Michael Kenna/<insert your favourite photographer> here.. :D

Wow, so great, thanks for sharing. You're so talented.

"FILM IS JUST LIKE A REALLY EXPENSIVE INSTAGRAM FILTER" Ouch. I think for some people that shoot film it goes beyond the end result.

I took a lot of pictures with my dads digital camera and I was proud of them but in the end it was the camera that did all the work with autofocus, managing shutter speed and aperture...it was fun and I got a lot of appreciation for photography but film made me aware of what I was doing and not just pressing a button, its a learning curve yes but I fell in love with photography because of film. This was a great video and you presented information with clarity and humour and for that I subscribed! PS: Nice shoe cam!